Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-02-18

stirring that day, and every breath had
to be caught and utilized; not a reef was
taken in.
Trip stood behind the sail that rose up
right from the ground, screened by it
from observation by any one in the road,
in the garden, or cottage The sail did
not, of course, quite reach the surface.
She caught the cross bar and scrambled
on to the wing. 1t had n main beam of
great strength, and two sides; across
were the strips of wood, or "splnes,"
that held the canvas from bullying in,
and to which it could be reefed. The
girl climbed to the second of these ribs
and fastened the ends of her skipping
rope to it.; she passed the handles behind
the main beam, and drew them through
and firmly knotted them. Then she
stood up, with her feet in the loop, and
jumped and stamped and the knots held
securely.
"NOw,n said she, 81 have managed ia
mously. When the sail goes up l shall
be sitting in a swing, with my head
up; then when it goes down | shall
descend in the same way, head up. /
have only to hold Fast by the ropes of
my swing, and mind not to touch the
splines. Whatever will Joe Miller say
when he sees that my opinion is better
than his? After that, he'll never dare to
call me vulgar names. Little Tu' penny,
indeedT'
If Miss Triptolema had discovered this
plan unassisted, she would have shown
remarkable ingenuity. But she had not
been unprompted. The preceding year
she had attended a fair with her mother,
where she had seen whirligig in which
those who paid penny were given q
ROY f1 Init in, Iot
pivots to the arms of Il vast wheel planted
vertically, Consequently, Trip was sim
ply applying to the mill sails a principle
she had seen in operation at the fair.
Nevertheless, it is not every one who
can apply principle She must not be
denied some credit for what she did.
Having completed her preparations,
Trip sat patiently in her swing waiting
till the miller and his man returned from
their dinner, nothing doubling that they
would set the mill agoing without observ
ing her.
1t was as she expected. The man came
first, Joe remaining at the house to give
his mother some change to pay bill to
the carrier for some crates
The man started the mill without cast
ing look at the sails. The wind caught,
strained the canvas; the woodwork
cracked, heaved; and the wings began to
move. Trip thought that the grass, the
hedges were running away under her feet.
Her first sensation was one of alarm, and
she uttered slight exclamation; but this
sensation passed rapidly, and was fol-
lowed by great elation of spirits as the
strong beam carried her up. Her weight
was of no more account than that of fly
on carriage wheel. She did not feel the
hrpnIp ha inc do !,
the canvas, but cold rush of air came
down on her head, caused by the rapid
upward sweep and displacement.
1t would have been pleasanter if posi-
BILE, to have sat outside. She would have
seen more of the world: the great bulk of
the mill would not have interviewed be-
tween her and the prospect. But that
was not possible. AS babe crows when
swung into the air by the stout arms of
father or mother, so did Trip eXclaim with
eXultatlOn as he was carried alOft. She
had no fear of the beam giving aWay-of
her swing swapping She saw the swal-
lows dashing about her, careless of the
sails, tWtterng and screaming and quite
Indifferent to her presence. She saw away
over the bean field, over the park trees
she saw the roof, the chimneys of the hall
SHE saw what she had never seen be-
fore, the well in the roof into which
water was pumped to supply the house.
She saw over the hOuSe-aWay, away,
away-to the blue cleaning river. with
speCks ON II.
She saw nearer a field and a man in it
working-no-it was not man, it was IL
scarecrow. There were pieces of tin tied
to string, clickcring and tlckcring in
the air and sun She could not hear the
cllck-she could not see the flash.
Wonder was the house of the old woman
who took i'll the washing for the hall
What fluttcring of white there was on
the lines, and oh, one blazing red petit
coat, like Il tulip.
The beans labured, groancd. the canvas
Mapped; Trip had reached the highest
point Of all, She looked over the roof of
the mill
Now down, down, she began to 90:
and as she sank sensation of sinking
made itself felt in her heart Now ONLY
did she fear lest her rope should give
way, lest the knots should relax. She
came down faster than she went up: the
river, the house. the trees, the bean field
went together like a pack of cards.
There was n swimming in her head
When she reached the ground She would
have leaped down had she dared but she
knew such a leap would lead to broken
bones and, perhaps, death.
Tp-up-up again. The panorama.
fan-like. unfolded once more before her.
Again that horrible scarccrow, with the
straw sticking out of the crown Of bat
tered hat again the blinking of the tin
sherds Her hands clung TO the ropes
quivering Her heart huttercd; fear be
gan to take possession of her, rising like
a bnI inf hap